Next time you drive by the dump, take a look and you may see one or more forlorn salvagers huddled there. They stand in the cold peering through the chain link fence, with a tear in their eye, wondering where, oh where has their beloved salvage area gone and why did the city mislead them.

After the big dump fire of 2009 the city said, "don't worry, trust us, as soon as we are sure the fire is out we will put in a new salvage area." After a couple of weeks they said, "don't worry, trust us, we have decided to build the fabled three-cell salvage area and it will be ready in a week or two." After two months they said, "be patient, trust us, we are having a few technical difficulties. Maybe, just maybe, the area will be ready before Christmas."

For some peculiar reason, someone at the city issued a decree that no salvaging is to be allowed at the dump, except for the metal area and for automobiles, until the new three-cell area is built, regardless of how long that takes.

Someone I know went out to the dump to get a couple of pallets and they were turned away. Does this mean that wood is now officially off the list of salvageable items, unless it shows up in the three-cell area? No more wood pile where people can salvage lumber or fire wood. Someone who salvages glass for art projects was turned away. Does this mean that broken glass is now off the list of salvageable items, unless it ends up in the three-cells area?

The new system, when it finally gets built and is operational, is supposed to work something like this: people drive up to the gate and are told garbage goes in those bins over there and if you have any stuff for the salvage area then it goes into the three-cell area.

I can guarantee you most people with mixed loads are going to throw all their stuff into the garbage bins because it is easier and they don't recognize or appreciate the value of the stuff they are throwing away. This means that there is going to be a lot less salvaging going on. That means less material will be diverted from being buried and taking up room at the dump. There will be a lot fewer beverage containers salvaged, a lot less wood, a lot fewer books, cloths, jewellery, toys, tools, treasures and antiques.

If the city were serious and committed to salvaging at the dump, they would have set up a temporary salvage area after the fire. Also, there would be more stuff available for salvagers to look through, not less.

Here is another important consideration I fear the city hasn't examined fully. How much is it going to cost to build and operate this new three-cell method, as well as the new garbage bin system?

I am willing to bet it will be expensive. So costs will go up and the amount of stuff available to salvage will go down. We seem to be going backwards not forward.

Just in case I need it, I have on hold, an order for a big granite boulder with the following words engraved upon it, "behold, here are the names of the city staff and council who killed the most successful recycling program in Canada and in the process destroyed our beloved dump, our heritage, our culture and of course our birthright."

When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?

- Walt Humphries is a well-known Yellowknife artist and prospector